"I told you that I was disappointed in my own ability to encourage other CEOs of not-for-profits to step up, so today I renew that goal," Barba said during a news conference Wednesday. "There is no reason why a couple of large institutions – whose names you know – have not come forward to assist. They have the ability to do it, I believe they have the obligation to do it, and they should be doing it to help the city."

While a $500,000 check given for Albany Med to Sheehan on Wednesday as a voluntary Payment-in-lieu-Taxes (PILOT) for the city's 2016 budget was funding established in 2014 as a three-year deal – from 2015 through 2017 – Barba said he'd also aimed to encourage other nonprofits to follow suit, but he "was not terribly successful."

The Port of Albany and Fuller Road Management Corporation – an economic development arm of SUNY Polytechnic Institute – also contribute $500,000 annually, agreements reached two years ago as well. Representatives for these institutions were not in attendance.

In the last five years, the city has seen growth in the assessed value of untaxable properties by more than 5 percent, from 57.6 percent of total assessed value in the city in 2011 to 63.04 percent this year, making the need for financial commitments more urgent.

In Sheehan's 2017 proposed budget, revenue from voluntary PILOTs has been increased $250,000 to $1.75 million as city officials continue talks to secure additional funding.

"There is much more work to be done, but the leadership that has been demonstrated by Albany Medical Center, I think, has set the bar very, very, very high," Sheehan said. "It should be set high."

Despite shrinking profit margins, which Barba partially blamed on decreasing Medicaid and Medicare payments, the chief officer promised to make an effort to secure financial contributions from the center's Board of Directors, through 2020.

Barba touted Albany Med's contributions over the years to the city, from funding the city's Park Playhouse prior to Sheehan's administration to a building on Broadway that it kept on the tax rolls, and paying about $175,000 annually in school and city taxes. He added Albany Med regularly provides free health care to some city residents, which officials estimate totaled $13.5 million in 2015.

Sheehan also pointed to a medication buy-back program coordinated with the medical center that allows the city fire department to exchange medication before it's expired, saving "tens of thousands of dollars."

When asked whether creating a redevelopment foundation like Troy's is part of the discussion, Sheehan said the city looked into the model, "but it really wasn't going to meet the need that we have, which is to balance our operating budget."

The foundation – which St. Peter's Hospital officials have said they participate in and would like to see in Albany — is made up of nonprofits and contributes to the city through purchases of needed equipment and other things.

"St. Peter's is a citizen and resident of Albany County, and while we all should celebrate whatever other organizations do in other counties and other cities, that doesn't help solve Albany's problem," Barba said, adding he's fond of the institution. "What we all must be about is solving the problem in the place in which we reside."

St. Peter's spokesman Elmer Streeter said hospital officials had a meeting with Sheehan about six weeks ago expressing that the hospital is in the middle of a "very challenging fiscal year, but we nevertheless said we would look at this to see what we might be able to do in the future."

"We also said that we would very much like to continue discussions on other creative ways in which our institution, and other not-for-profits, might be able to help the city where our missions might intersect," he said. "We believe that it is important that the city be financially viable and stable."